Chicken Ballottines with Blue Cheese and Vegetables
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts (as thin as possible)
- 1 carrot
- 5 white button mushrooms (medium size)
- 100 g soft fromage frais (plain)
- 2 teaspoons Maille Mustard with White Wine and Blue Cheese
- 250 g green lentils
- 12 shelled walnuts
- 30 g Blue cheese
- Salt, Pepper
Introduction
Ballottines are stuffed chicken breasts rolled onto themselves with an enclosed filling and are cylindrically shaped. Once cooked, the ballottines are sliced to obtain individual portions, which reveal the inside. It is a meticulous preparation for a sophisticated presentation. To make the process easier, it is important to use thin chicken breasts or you can trim down its thickness to that of a wallet. Maille Mustard with White Wine and Blue Cheese serves as the basis of this recipe, accompanying the carrots and mushrooms stuffed in the meat. For the trimmings, we propose green lentils, diced blue cheese and crushed shelled walnuts.
Preparation
The Filling
- Peel the carrot and the mushrooms.
- Brunoise the carrot and mushrooms. (That is to say, cut in very small pieces.)
- Heat some oil in a frying pan and cook the vegetables over medium heat for 15 minutes.
- Stir occasionally.
- Meanwhile, mix together the fromage frais and mustard in a bowl.
- Refrigerate.
The Lentils
- Put the lentils into a large saucepan with salted water over medium heat.
- Simmer for 40 to 45 minutes.
The Ballottines
- If the chicken breasts appear to be too thick, trim them to the thinness of a wallet.
- Brush the chicken with the fromage frais/mustard mixture.
- Add the vegetables on top.
- Roll the meat into a cylindrical shape and secure the roll with string.
- Heat a pan with fat and cook the ballottines for 30 minutes over medium heat.
- Turn them regularly in order to obtain even cooking.
Presentation
- At the end of cooking, remove the string.
- Slice the ballottines into segments. Serve with the lentils.
- Top with diced Blue cheese and crushed walnuts.
Chef's Tips
This recipe can be done via steam cooking for a more diet-friendly version. For this method, wrap the ballottines in cling film of 2 or 3 layers. Then cook in a steamer for 30 minutes.
Maille Tip
Maille Mustard with White Wine and Blue Cheese works wonders with a rump steak in a Blue cheese and crème fraîche sauce or as an accompaniment to gnocchi in place of Gorgonzola.